Zamzama Gun

Manufactured by Shah Wali Khan, .and immortalized by Rudyard Kipling by mentioning it in his novel, Zamzama gun of Lahore reminds us of the days when Ahmad Shah Durrani came to Lahore and ordered to make a grand and huge gun. The order was fulfilled and a Jizya (tax) was imposed in 1760 on the Sikhs and Hindus to collect money for it. The giant gun is of 80 pounder, 14 feet long, 4½ inches in length, while the aperture is of 9½ inches. The brass and copper used for the gun was collected from the kitchens of the minorities especially the Sikhs and Hindus. Indian and Afghani artillery experts manufactured the history it in the form of Zamzama gun. The chronology reports that the Zamzama was used in the war of Pani Pat in 1761.

Ahmad Shah could not take it back to Delhi due to its weight and bulk. In 1762, it was captured by Hari Singh, the Bhangi chief who named it as “Bhangian wali toap”. Lahina Singh and Gujjar Singh, the Bhangian sardars enjoyed the possession of the gun only for two years when Charhat Singh claimed it as the price of his cooperation to the Bhangis in Capturing Lahore.

Zamzama continued its journey and reached into the hands of Chatta clan where two Chatta brothers, Pir Muhammad Khan, and Ahmad Khan fought over it and Gujjar Kanh Bhangi grabbed the occasion and took Zamzama to Gujrat. Chattas regained it in 1772 from where Jhanda Singh captured it and shifted it to Amritsar.

Witness of a lot of warfare and bloodshed, Zamzama’s journey did not stop here. It was detained by “Maharaja Ranjit Singh” in 1802.Zamzama was used in Dinanagar war against Kanhaiyas and the Ramgarhias along with the expeditions to Multan, Kasur, Daska, Wazirabad, and Sujanpur.

In 1818, Zamzama got tired when it refused to work for Jamadar Khushal Singh in Multan and was taken to Delhi Gate Lahore for display, as the memories of the past. In 1860, it was reported to behind the Lahore Museum. In 1870, it rested at the entrance of the Lahore Museum and then was transported to the the present building of the museum and was placed opposite the University Hall Repaired in 1977. These days Zamzama rests on the opposite side of the Institute of Chemical Engineering and Technology of the University of the Punjab Lahore.